Whereas under the Inter-American Coffee Agreement signed on November 28, 1940, and the joint resolution of Congress approved April 11, 1941 (Public Law 33, 77th Cong., 1st sess.), the entry for consumption in the United States of coffee produced in countries which are not signatories of the Inter-American Coffee Agreement is limited to a basic annual quota of 355,000 bags of 60 kilograms net or equivalent quantities; and Whereas I find that it is necessary to allocate the said quota in order to make available the types of coffee usually consumed in the United States: Now, Therefore , by virtue of the authority vested in me by section 2 of the said joint resolution of April 11, 1941, it is hereby ordered as follows: 1. No more than the following-named quantities (in bags of 60 kilograms net or equivalent quantities) of the types of coffee specified below, produced in countries not signatories of the Inter-American Coffee Agreement, may be entered for consumption in the United States from the effective date of this order to August 31, 1941, inclusive: (a) Arabica: (1) Mocha, 20,000 bags. (2) Other Arabica, 20,000 bags. (b) Species other than Arabica: The number of bags calculated by deducting from 315,000, the number of bags of coffee produced in such countries and entered for consumption from and including October 1, 1940, to the effective date of this order, as determined and made public by the Secretary of the Treasury. 2. This order shall become effective on the day following the day it is filed in the Division of the Federal Register, the National Archives. FRANKLIN D ROOSEVELT The White House, April 21, 1941.
Executive Order 8738 🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority Constitutional Neutral (+0.02)
📜 Art. I §8: Delegated Tariff & Commerce Execution
Executive Order 8738—Allocating the Quota Under the Inter-American Coffee Agreement for Countries Not Signatories of the Agreement
Executive Brief • At a Glance
⏱️ 1 min read (275 words) •
● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate
No more than the following-named quantities (in bags of 60 kilograms net or equivalent quantities) of the types of coffee specified below, produced in countries not signatories of the Inter-American Coffee Agreement, may be entered for consumption in the United States from the effective date of this order to August 31, 1941, inclusive: (a) Arabica: (1) Mocha, 20,000 bags.
⚖️ Constitutional Footing
🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority
Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
📜 Art. I §8: Delegated Tariff & Commerce Execution
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Private Citizens & Property Owners Financial Institutions & Monetary Authorities
Plain-English Translation & Framers' Constitutional Analysis
Early Statesman synthesis distilling legal jargon into practical meaning, statutory anchors, and structural constitutional impacts.
Signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on April 21, 1941, this order concerns Allocating the Quota Under the Inter-American Coffee Agreement for Countries Not Signatories of the Agreement. No more than the following-named quantities (in bags of 60 kilograms net or equivalent quantities) of the types of coffee specified below, produced in countries not signatories of the Inter-American Coffee Agreement, may be entered for consumption in the United States from the effective date of this order to August 31, 1941, inclusive: (a) Arabica: (1) Mocha, 20,000 bags. (2) Other Arabica, 20,000 bags.
Constitutional Assessment: This action represents an orderly exercise of Article II administrative discretion, managing the internal machinery and personnel of the executive branch without abridging the ancient liberties of the people.
Key Directives & Operative Actions
▪
No more than the following-named quantities (in bags of 60 kilograms net or equivalent quantities) of the types of coffee specified below, produced in countries not signatories of the Inter-American Coffee Agreement, may be entered for consumption in the United States from the effective date of this order to August 31, 1941, inclusive: (a) Arabica: (1) Mocha, 20,000 bags.
Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted
🏛️ Private Citizens & Property Owners
🏛️ Financial Institutions & Monetary Authorities
Policy Areas & Topics
🏛️
The Framers' Constitutional Council
1787 PrismEvaluating this order against the constitutional debates of 1787 and the limits of Article II executive power.
🏛️✅ Zone 1 (Maximum Authority)
§
"When the President acts pursuant to an express or implied authorization of Congress, his authority is at its maximum, for it includes all that he possesses in his own right plus all that Congress can delegate."
— Justice Robert H. Jackson, Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer (1952) Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
JM
James Madison
Separation of Powers & Legislative Primacy
"The constitutional magistracy was designed not to invent policy, but to be the faithful instrument of the laws passed by the people's representatives." — Speech in the First Congress (1789)
Madison would approve the structural posture of this order. The President acts strictly in subordination to statutory authority granted under Article II, Section 3 ("take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed"). The checks and balances hold firm because the policy origin remains with the legislature.
Madisonian Stance: Concurring (Statutory)
AH
Alexander Hamilton
The Energetic Executive & Unified Command
"The direction of war implies the direction of the common strength; and the power of directing and employing the common strength must be under the direction of the single hand of the Executive." — Federalist No. 74 (1788)
Hamilton would forcefully champion executive discretion here. For foreign entanglements, commerce defense, and national security, deliberative assemblies are too slow and faction-ridden. A unified, energetic Executive exercising swift command is precisely what the Philadelphia Convention intended for national preservation.
Hamiltonian Stance: Supportive of Execution
GM
George Mason
Bill of Rights, Due Process & 10th Amendment
"The president will be surrounded by flatterers and sycophants... and the great powers of the executive will gradually absorb the liberties of the people." — Cato IV (Anti-Federalist, 1787)
The Anti-Federalist prism advises continuous democratic vigilance. Even routine administrative directives aggregate centralized federal power away from town halls and state assemblies toward a distant executive apparatus.
Anti-Federalist Stance: Eternal Vigilance Required
📐
Five Measurable "Constitutional Friction" Dimensions
An objective audit measuring potential separation-of-powers tension against the United States Constitution and established Supreme Court doctrine.
🛡️ High Constitutional Concordance
23 / 100 friction index
Dimension 1 • Art. I, §1 & §8
Low Friction
Legislative Encroachment & Purse
Operates within delegated statutory execution without modifying legislative appropriations or taxing powers.
Benchmark: Power of the purse, taxes/tariffs, and rule of law reserved to Congress.
Dimension 2 • Art. II, §1 & §3
Low Friction
Executive Scope & Faithfulness
Exercises standard supervisory executive authority to faithfully execute existing statutes.
Benchmark: Faithfully execute laws enacted by Congress vs. unilateral decree.
Dimension 3 • 10th Amendment
Moderate Friction
Federalism & State Sovereignty
Engages state and local partners in cooperative federalism programs.
Benchmark: Police powers and un-delegated responsibilities reserved to the States.
Dimension 4 • 5th & 14th Amendments
Low Friction
Due Process & Individual Rights
Focuses on internal governmental operations with no direct impairment of private rights or property.
Benchmark: Protection of private property, contracts, liberty, and procedural justice.
Dimension 5 • Separation of Powers
Low Friction
Youngstown Jacksonian Tier
The President operates strictly as the constitutional Chief Executive, carrying out policy established by Congress with strong statutory backing.
Benchmark: Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
⚖️
Audit Synthesis
This order operates in close harmony with statutory authority and standard Article II supervisory execution.
Weighted composite: Art. I (25%), Art. II (25%), Federalism (15%), Due Process (15%), Youngstown (20%).
ℹ️
How to read these dimensions: Executive power expands whenever an administration acts without explicit statutory authorization from Congress (Article I), touches upon police powers historically reserved to the states (Tenth Amendment), or limits private rights and property without judicial process. A low friction score indicates strict concordance with enacted law; a high friction score highlights orders testing the limits of presidential discretion.
Total Words
275
1,640 characters
Estimated Read Time
1 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
19.4
Post-Graduate Legal
Text size:
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Referenced By Later Executive Orders (1)
Subsequent presidents who cited, amended, continued, or revoked this directive in later orders.
Franklin D. Roosevelt • 1941-06-10
Related Executive Orders
Other executive actions signed by Franklin D. Roosevelt around this period.
EO 8739 Apr 21, 1941
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 8739—Revoking Executive Order No. 6802 of August 4, 1934, and Withdrawing the Land Described Therein For the Use of the Alaska Game Commission
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
Executive Order No. 6802 of August 4, 1934, reserving for the joint use and occupancy of the Department of Agriculture and the Alaska Game Commission a tract of land described as United States Survey No. 1435, containing 5.42 acres, situated in the NE 1/4, sec. 6, T. 5 N., R.…
Franklin D. Roosevelt Grade 7 • 1m
EO 8740 Apr 22, 1941
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 8740—Covering Certain Positions Into the Competitive Classified Civil Service and Amending Schedule A of the Civil Service Rules
📜 Art. II §3: Administrative Management & Civil Service
The positions of Counsel and Assistant Attorney in the Alley Dwelling Authority are hereby covered into the competitive classified civil service, and the incumbents of such positions may acquire a Classified status in accordance with the provisions of section 6 of Civil Service…
Franklin D. Roosevelt High School • 1m
EO 8743 Apr 23, 1941
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 8743—Extending the Classified Civil Service
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
All offices and positions in the executive civil service of the United States except (i) those that are temporary, (2) those expressly excepted from the provisions of section 1 of the said Act of November 26, 1940, (3) those excepted from the classified service under Schedules…
Franklin D. Roosevelt Post-Graduate Legal • 7m
EO 8742 Apr 23, 1941
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 8742—Partial Revocation of Executive Order of July 9, 1910, Creating Coal Land Withdrawal, Montana No. 1
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
By virtue of the authority vested in me by the act of June 25, 1910, ch. 421, 36 Stat. 847, the Executive order of July 9, 1910, creating Coal Land Withdrawal, Montana No. 1, is hereby revoked as to the following-described lands: MONTANA MONTANA MERIDIAN T. 19 N., R. 50 E., all.
Franklin D. Roosevelt Grade 8 • 1m
EO 8741 Apr 23, 1941
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 8741—Revocation of Executive Order No. 5623 of May 15, 1931, Withdrawing Public Lands
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
CALIFORNIA By virtue of the authority vested in me by the act of June 25, 1910, c. 421, 36 Stat. 847, Executive Order No. 5623 of May 15, 1931, withdrawing public lands in California pending a resurvey, is hereby revoked.
Franklin D. Roosevelt Grade 7 • 1m
EO 8745 Apr 24, 1941
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 8745—Exemption of Charley R. Davis From Compulsory Retirement for Age
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
I hereby exempt the said Charley R. Davis from compulsory retirement for age for a period of one year ending August 31, 1942.
Franklin D. Roosevelt High School • 1m
📜
Scholarly & Legal Citations
Exec. Order No. 8738 (Apr. 21, 1941), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-8738-allocating-the-quota-under-the-inter-american-coffee-agreement-for.
